Benjamin was a farmer but he also worked as a minor in 1910 for the Hamilton Coal Co. He was baptized Lutheran and is buried in a Lutheran cemetery but he had joined a religious sect called "The Work" which was very strict and not unlike the Mennonites.

He ws known in many records and in his personal writings as Benjamin Shirey but is buried with the Sheirer spelling. He died of Cerebral Apoplexy at home according to his death certificate.